Hiyori gets more than she bargained for

Kobayashi Seiji had no sooner crossed the threshold than it became abundantly clear he was intoxicated. Not only was he weaving back and forth, he also failed to notice the two people he was probably most anxious to avoid in the whole world were staring directly at him. After only a moment, he disappeared into the crowd.

Kazu was staring after him with a strange look on his face—a cross between concern and frustration. "I should probably follow him," he said uneasily. "He doesn't look so good."

"Why? He's always got a couple friends with him." Hiyori scoffed. Regardless of what her friend had said, she wasn't convinced there was any excuse for Kobayashi's behavior.

Kazu shook his head. "They won't be with him here. This isn't exactly a gay bar, but it's a popular hangout, let's put it that way. I'm worried he'll actually get what he came here for."

"Alright, then," Hiyori sighed. "Let's go." They both stood up and headed towards the dance floor. Hiyori was forced to raise her injured hand above her head to prevent it from being jostled by the throngs of people. It was no use—within moments, she'd lose sight of Kazu, and was unable to push herself through.

After a minute of careful weaving, she made it to the other side of the crowd. "Oh no," she muttered, eyes scanning back and forth. "Where could they have gone?" She spotted a hallway that seemed to lead to a back part of the building and made for it.

Hiyori turned down the hallway, which led to two extremely grimy bathrooms and a back exit door. She poked her head outside, where a few boys were taking a smoke break, but turned back immediately and went into the crowd, thinking she had missed them. Beginning to worry, she tugged her cell phone out of her pocket, only to realize she had no signal inside. She decided to check back at their original seats at the bar, just in case Kazu was looking for her, too, and had retraced their steps.

Unfortunately, her seat was otherwise occupied by a figure wearing a black leather jacket. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, have you seen a blond boy?" she asked, and he turned around to answer.

"Kirishima-san?"

"Naoki-senpai?" she said in disbelief. Sure enough, it was her clumsy calculus tutor. He had been leaning on his elbows over the bar, but as he straightened up to address her, his figure became more recognizable under the leather jacket. He peered down at her from between long bangs, which he'd freed from the pins. Hiyori wasn't sure if it was the dim lighting, the wardrobe change, or her previous conversation to Kazu...but for some reason, she was struck by how attractive his face was. He had high cheekbones and elegantly shaped eyes, opened wide in surprise behind his eyeglasses.

"Are you alright?" he asked immediately. "You're looking for someone?"

"I got lost chasing your damn cousin..."

"Seiji's here? I was just asking the bartender if he'd come in tonight," Naoki said, standing up. "Why were you chasing him? Did he say something else to you?"

"No, no," Hiyori clarified. "I'm here with my friend Kazu-chan. We saw your cousin come in, drunk as anything, and tried to follow him before he did something stupid."

"You were trying to help him?" Naoki stared at her. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"It was Kazu's idea," she muttered. "Come on, we can look for them together. Let's do another turn around the place."

Naoki reached out and took her by the hand. "So we don't get separated," he explained, then tugged her through the crowd before she could protest. He looked back over his shoulder frequently to check that she was still there. "This is my fault," he said apologetically. "We were supposed to have dinner, and I said something stupid, not realizing he'd been drinking before I met up with him. I guessed he might go here, but I checked another bar on the way first."

They reached the back wall of the bar again. Naoki immediately dropped her hand and looked to her expectantly. "Where did you look already?" he asked.

She led him towards the hallway. "Down here, but I couldn't find them."

Naoki walked to the end of the corridor. "Did you try outside?"

"Yes, but—"

He had already opened the door, and sure enough, Kazu was leaned up against the wall outside, supporting a nearly unconscious Seiji.

"Naoki-san! Hiyo!" he exclaimed as they exited the building. "Hiyo, I texted you! Did you get my message? He was throwing up, so I took him to the bathroom."

She shook her head. "No cell service. You must have been in there when I walked around the first time."

Naoki had quickly moved to relieve Kazu of his cousin's weight. Seiji cracked an eye open, and, upon seeing Naoki, turned away and wrapped his arms around Kazu's neck. He began to weep.

"Oh gosh," Hiyori said, shocked. She had to admit, the imagine of Kobayashi, disheveled and crying with a fading bruise on his face, was pathetic enough to satisfy any lingering desire of hers for vengeance. "What's wrong with him?"

"It's a long story," Naoki said, taking a step away from his cousin. "I'm so sorry, you deserve an explanation, but I'll have to fill you in later. I need to get him home."

"I don't want to go home!" Seiji sobbed, clinging harder to Kazu.

"You can stay at my place, Sei-chan," Naoki said kindly, moving to extricate him again. He only cried harder.

Kazu cleared his throat. "Listen, he's welcome to stay at my apartment. I live alone, so he won't be in the way. I'll set him up on the couch. He might need a night away from the family."

Naoki looked unhappy. "I feel terrible," he said. "I don't want to impose on you."

Kazu laughed dryly. "I think it's about time we had a chat anyways."

Naoki silently retrieved his wallet from his jacket pocket. "Here's money for a cab," he said. "I'll borrow my friend's car and pick him up in the morning."

Hiyori was watching this entire exchange silently.

"Ah, wait," Kazu said, suddenly remembering his friend. "I promised Hiyo I'd see her home safe. We might have to rethink this."

"I'll make sure she gets there," Naoki assured him.

"I can go by myself," Hiyori said automatically.

"You shouldn't ride the train alone so late," Kazu said, and the taller boy nodded in agreement.

"We can talk on the way there," Naoki added.

Hiyori's curiosity battled with her stubbornness, and won.

"Alright," she agreed, sighing heavily. The students all headed for the street, exiting around the side of the building instead of making their way through the crowd inside again.

Seiji was almost properly passed out by the time Kazu got him in a cab.

There was an awkward silence as Hiyori found herself alone with her calculus tutor once again. They fell into step besides one another as they wordlessly headed for the train line, just in time to catch the last one.

"I'll take a cab from your place to mine," the boy said preemptively.

"Right," Hiyori said.

Naoki heaved another big sigh. "I'm sorry. Oh, damn. I'm sorry, I apologized again."

Hiyori smiled. "You don't have anything to apologize for."

"I want you to know, this isn't an excuse for Seiji," he began. "Just...so you know. His family—our family—is very traditional. Our fathers are brothers, and my uncle is...well, he's a drunk. I'm pretty close to Seiji, but as you can tell, he's hard to talk to. When he was a sophomore in high school, he came to me one day and said he thought he might be gay, but he was worried about that the family would say. I told him not to say anything until he was financially independent, and it's a good thing he didn't. A few months later, his father was caught having an affair with a man. An unfortunate irony." He smiled bitterly.

"The family was in total turmoil," he continued. "Seiji and his mother moved in with us, but the house was getting crowded so I moved into my own apartment as soon as I started school and started working as a tutor. I...I really love Seiji, so it's been particularly hard to watch how hard he took the news. Who can blame him? He had already felt self-conscious, and then to have something like that happen...he hates his father, and over the last few years, he's begun to hate himself. It causes him to be cruel sometimes. He wasn't always like that.

"I think Seiji and Kazu-san related a lot over their fathers when they met. Your friend told me a great deal when I picked my cousin up that time. That's why I left him today, when I wouldn't normally. Maybe he can talk some sense into him."

Hiyori sucked in her breath sharply and turned to look up at Naoki. He smiled sadly at her as he peered down through his glasses. He wasn't quite as tall as her doctor had been the other day, but his thinness made his height seem greater. They both rested in silence as Hiyori mulled over the news.

"I owe you an apology," she said finally.

"Me?" Naoki asked, looking genuinely startled.

"For calling you a nerd."

"But I am a nerd," Naoki said, confused. "Seiji was always the cool one."

"Nah, I take it back. The leather jacket changed my image of you," she told him.

"...It's Seiji's. He left it at the first place we went to, so I put it on to carry it. I forgot I was even wearing it," Naoki admitted ruefully.

By this time, they had arrived in front of Hiyori's apartment complex. Her feet were killing her and she was exhausted.

"Thanks for walking me," she said begrudgingly.

Naoki put his hands in his pockets nervously. "It was the least I could do." He smiled tentatively.

She couldn't help it—she smiled back. As soon as she caught herself, her eyebrows snapped to a frown again, but it was too late...Naoki looked mildly cheerful, if not surprised. She cleared her throat and forced herself to continue.

"Also...I think you're a good cousin. I hope everything works out with your family." Spontaneously, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled Naoki down by his jacket collar to kiss him on the cheek.

The two froze for a moment as Hiyori took stock of Naoki's expression. She had only meant it as a friendly gesture, but when the shock gave way and his face split into a delighted, silly grin, she suddenly felt the pressing urge to spin around and sprint the last few steps to her apartment building without saying goodbye.

She continued running up the stairs and fumbled in her purse for her keys, her heart beating faster than strictly necessary for the amount of energy she was exerting. She quickly opened the door and stumbled into the genken, kicking off her heels and willing her heart to stop pounding. After a moment, she made her way down the hallway. She had nearly reached her room when she noticed the living room light on.

Hiyori turned in horror to see Kirishima and Yokozawa sitting on the couch, both with their arms crossed over their chest.

"Welcome home," Kirishima said casually. "Care to explain where the fuck you've been?"

xxx

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